Equip Agencies Limited & another v Gitau Ngigi Mureithi Njoroge (Sued as office bearers of Gilgil Total Investors Self Help Group) & 4 others (Environment & Land Case 89 of 2024) (Environment and Land) [2025] KEELC 30 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Once a Kenyan court finalises its decision, it cannot issue new orders—you must seek protection from the Court of Appeal.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Functus officio and jurisdiction
Having perfected its judgment of 18th July 2024, declared the suit res judicata, and been informed that the Plaintiffs had elected to appeal, the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain fresh injunction applications pending appeal.
The court adopted the Black's Law Dictionary definition of functus officio and the Supreme Court-endorsed formulation in Jersey Evening Post Limited v Al Thani, that a court is functus once it has performed all its duties and its judgment has been perfected. The matter had been concluded in Nairobi High Court Comm Case No. 87 of 2019, the suit was struck out as res judicata, and the Plaintiffs had chosen the appellate route, leaving no jurisdiction in this court.
Injunction pending appeal after striking out suit
No injunction pending appeal can issue where there is no subsisting suit to anchor it and where the court is functus officio.
The 1st Defendant argued, and the court effectively accepted, that the suit having been struck out on 18th July 2024 there was no suit in existence in which an application for injunction could be anchored. The applications also mirrored the application dated 2nd August 2023 already dismissed as res judicata, so granting them would amount to the court sitting on appeal over its own ruling.
Legal principles established
#- A court becomes functus officio once its judgment or order has been perfected; any challenge must be taken to a higher court.
- A party who elects to appeal against a ruling cannot thereafter invoke the same court's jurisdiction for interim relief anchored on that ruling.
Court orders
#- 1.The Applications dated 30th July 2024 and 2nd August 2024 are dismissed with costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Civil Procedure Act (Sections 1A, 1B, 3A, 63(e), 75(1), 95) and Civil Procedure Rules 2010 (Orders 42, 50, 51)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Equip Agencies Limited & another v Gitau Ngigi Mureithi Njoroge (Sued as office bearers of Gilgil Total Investors Self Help Group) & 4 others (Environment & Land Case 89 of 2024) (Environment and Land) [2025] KEELC 30 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated (Applications dated 30th July 2024 and 2nd August 2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/30/eng@2025-01-16
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.